FABIO CAPELLO slapped down John Terry in brutal fashion last night and claimed he had made a “very big mistake” in going public with his misgivings over England’s World Cup campaign.

Capello ruthlessly reasserted his authority ahead of tomorrow’s must-win showdown with Slovenia by delivering a withering riposte to former captain Terry’s call for a challenge to the manager and the plea for Joe Cole to be drafted into the starting line-up.

In a damning rebuttal, Capello dismissed Terry’s comments as unrepresentative of views within the squad. “It’s not a revolution,” he said. “It’s one mistake from one player, no more.”

Terry’s outburst backfired spectacularly as Capello accused him of not only letting down his team-mates, but also showing them a lack of “respect” in trumpeting Cole as the answer to England’s problems.

He confirmed that no one had spoken up at Sunday’s team meeting, with Terry having been warned by a member of the management team it would be inadvisable to air his grievances. “I spoke with some players, only John Terry said this, no one spoke with me about the problems. My door is open always,” said Capello, who had stripped him of the national captaincy in February.

“If
you want to speak with me, you can speak with me. Every time we have a
meeting I ask the captain, ‘Problems? You want to say something?’ Never.

“I read yesterday that John Terry said this. I don’t understand why he doesn’t speak with me every time.

“At
the meeting we saw the first half against Algeria without comments,
then we went to dinner. Usually I speak to the players about the
mistake, this time I decided everyone can learn something about this
game.

“Probably one or two are not happy, but
the majority are happy. For this reason it is no problem. One player is
not so important compared to all the others. The group is more
important.

“If somebody wants to speak with me,
he can speak. I always tell the people they can speak, but yesterday
nobody spoke. When you speak you have to speak privately, not with the
media. This is the big mistake, this is a very big mistake.

“Sometimes
some players want to speak more with the media than with the other
players. The mistake is you have to speak with the players, with me,
with the dressing room.”

On Terry’s call for
Cole to start against Slovenia, Capello added: “It’s another mistake
when you speak about one player because there is no respect for the
players that play before. Always the players think individually – I
have to think about the team, it’s important.

“When you speak you have to be careful. I respect Joe Cole, he is one of the 23 players I have here.

“But I hope from the big mistake comes a big performance. The next performance will be good, I am 100 per cent sure.”

Terry
was understood to be contrite around England’s Royal Bafokeng training
HQ yesterday, but will have been left reeling by the severity of
Capello’s attack.

He will keep his place in the
starting XI against Slovenia, with Capello confirming that Matthew
Upson will be his partner in place of the suspended Jamie Carragher.

Capello will now turn his attentions to ensuring England prevail against Slovenia and progress from Group C.

“After
this game we have no more chances. We have to win,” he said. “This is
one of the biggest games of my career. We’ve prepared everything
perfectly for the players, they can swim, go to the gym and train.

“The
players are free and can go where they want. Everything is more or less
perfect – but we are here to play at the World Cup and not for a
holiday.”